allophone
/ˈæləˌfoʊn/
noun
- One of two or more slightly different sounds that are used to pronounce the same phoneme in a particular language, without changing the meaning of a word.
- The aspirated and unaspirated 'k' sounds in 'kill' and 'skill' are allophones in English.
- Linguists study allophones to understand how sounds vary in different positions within words.
- In English, the 'p' in 'pin' and the 'p' in 'spin' are different allophones of the same phoneme.
- A person whose first language is not the dominant language of the country where they live, especially in Canada.
- The school offers special programs to help allophone students learn English.
- Many allophones in Quebec also learn French to integrate into the community.
- The government provides resources for allophone immigrants to access language classes.